


Captain America to the rescue

by FlorDeDesierto



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Happy Ending, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, No Bashing, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, POV Steve Rogers, Slow Burn, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Parenting Peter Parker | Supremefamily | Strange Family, but he tries, poor thingy, steve is awkward with relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:40:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23799403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlorDeDesierto/pseuds/FlorDeDesierto
Summary: Steve wasn't an expert in romantic relationships, especially in romantic relationships of people as complicated as Tony Stark and Stephen Strange.But hey! That didn't mean he shouldn't try and help, right?akaSteve needs help to help because he doesn't know what the freak is going on.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 32
Kudos: 199





	Captain America to the rescue

**Author's Note:**

> I know a lot of people don't like Steve, but I'm OK with him. That said, I thought it would be funny to make an ironstrange story from his point of view. Let's see how much we can torture this poor blondie LOL

Steve had a predicament.

After the fall of SHIELD he became the leader of the Avengers and was in the search of new heroes he could trust and add to the team. Sadly, as it was proven, trust was something very volatile and hard to build, but he was willing to work for it.

It was just a fortunate coincidence that he suddenly met a man named Doctor Strange.

He had met him on a mission, dealing with a group of Hydra’s that had managed to put their hands on a magical bracelet. Magic was the doctor’s area, so he appeared and showed to be very impressive and efficient with his job.

Steve remembered the doctor’s name immediately when the man introduced himself. He was on the list of Hydra’s enemies and one of their targets. That just added another reason to trust the man.

With that in mind, he had approached the new hero in front of him with the offer, so he could also become part of the Avengers, and serve and protect the world with honor.

“No, thank you,” Doctor Strange had grumbled after having wrinkled his nose not very subtly.

And then, he just flew away.

Steve was left there, dumbfounded. He wasn’t one to brag, but he couldn’t help but wonder why the doctor didn’t even blink in front of Captain America, adults’ favorite Avenger, and seemed to think that being an Avenger wasn’t an honor at all.

Nevertheless, Steve was nothing but persistent. So, the second time he ran into the Doctor, he was more than ready to make the offer again, this time with the inspirational discourse he had prepared.

“I think it would be good-“

“Okay”.

“Oh,” Steve blinked.

Mission accomplished.

But then, the doctor started naming all his conditions.

Steve didn’t like secrecy, but in this case he told himself he had to understand. Doctor Strange was already part of a group of defenders and their field of battle was very specific. Mystical threats weren’t too foreign for the Avengers, but apparently there were much more magical dangers than magical gems, people with weird powers and aliens who thought themselves gods.

In conclusion, Doctor Strange didn’t exactly accept to be an Avenger, but a person willing to collaborate and share information with the Avengers when it was needed.

Steve accepted. He would be stupid if he rejected the help of another big group of heroes who seemed more honest than the previous institution he served.

So, needless to say, Steve was happy with the new acquisition and nothing could ruin his day.

Sadly, not all the Avengers were as happy as him.

“Are you kidding me?”

He had known that Tony would bring some opposition, but he hadn’t expected it to be expressed so strongly. “Having him with us would be very helpful. He has magic and knowledge that we don’t”, Steve added.

“We already have a strong magician here,” Tony retorted, his eyes pointing at Wanda.

Steve looked at Wanda, who just stared back at him, like agreeing with Tony.

“It’s a very different kind of magic,” he assured. “And he has a lot of knowledge about magic that we’ll certainly find beneficial”.

“We don’t even know the guy!” Stark grumbled stubbornly, “And on top of that, he sets conditions for us to follow! Who does he think he is?”

Before Steve could say anything, Colonel Rhodes gave his opinion, “I’m with Tones on that one. You are the only one who saw him”.

Steve nodded, “I’ll arrange everything so you all can meet him”.

Gladly, when he requested the doctor to meet the Avengers, he kindly accepted. But he set a condition: He wanted to meet them one by one.

At first, Steve thought that he wanted it that way in order to avoid the pressure of them as a group, but then, when the meetings happened, he realized that the sorcerer just wanted to observe them individually with special attention.

Thanks Heaven, all the members had liked the doctor. The man was very polite and composed. He even reacted like a gentleman to Natasha’s obvious flirtation (she usually did that to analyze men).

Now, only Tony was left to meet him.

Steve deliberately had chosen him to be at the end of the list. He really wished Tony would have the decency to behave. He hadn’t asked him directly because he knew that the mechanic would do the opposite with more enthusiasm.

A little warning for Strange wasn’t harming, though.

“So now you are going to meet Tony Stark,” he specified while they walked towards Tony’s workshop. “He’s a good person, but he just sometimes, uhm, he sometimes makes commentaries out of place and tries to touch everyone’s nerve,” he sighed like a resigned parent, “but I swear he never means to offend you even if he absolutely looks like he does mean it,” he winced to himself. That hadn’t come out good in the slightest, “I mean-”

“I appreciate the warning, Captain,” the sorcerer’s deep voice interrupted him, “I assure you I can deal with his type”.

That only made Steve more nervous because it kind of sounded like a threat. What was the probability of Tony ending up in the hell dimension?

The automatic door of the workshop opened and they entered the room.

“Tony?” Rogers called, looking around and not finding the man anywhere.

Then something metallic clanked and finally saw the engineer’s legs coming from under a car. He was probably doing some updating to the engine.

 _Great_ , Steve thought sarcastically, knowing that the man would not appreciate the interruption of his work in a moment of inspiration, like he liked to call it.

“Tony”.

“What?” he groaned, not stopping his work. Yup, his tone was definitively annoyed.

“I brought our guest?” Steve tried calmly.

Maybe this was good, maybe Tony would just say he was too busy for visits and Steve would get away with the good fortune of them never meeting.

Tony got from under the car.

 _Shoot_. Steve swore internally.

The mechanic quickly grabbed a wiper to clean his hands and face a little, but he still had oil all over himself. He approached them and then stopped to a considerable distance for someone who is supposed to be introduced. He eyed the doctor up and down judgingly.

Steve decided to speak.

“Tony, this is Doctor Stephen Strange” he said formally, “Doctor, this is-”

Tony’s rude laughter interrupted him.

_Oh no._

“Sorry,” Tony apologized with a grin, not sorry at all, “I just can’t take you seriously with the circus outfit. What is your specialty? Balloon animals?”

Steve wanted to die.

Ten seconds. It only took him _ten seconds_ to insult the doctor’s entire being.

Mortified, Steve closed his eyes. Maybe he expected too much from life. Maybe he needed to readjust to this cruel reality. Maybe those posters with kitties saying that there was still hope were a lie. A LIE.

He heard the doctor snorting out a chuckle. Steve opened his eyes to look at him with confusion.

“Oh, my most sincere apologies, Mister Stark,” Strange said condescending, an amused smirk on his face. Steve blinked, not knowing how to interpret that reaction. That was when the doctor waved his hands and he was suddenly wearing a three-piece suit. “Is this outfit more proper to be in your fabulous presence?“

Surprised, Steve looked back at Tony to find him gaping.

The mechanic composed himself quickly and crossed his arms guardedly.

“Touché, Houdini,” he said with a nod.

The doctor restored his previous clothes and then they just kept staring at each other in silence. Steve cleared his throat and started to explain.

“So, Doctor Strange is a specialist on the Mystic Arts-”

“And what made you decide to accept joining the Avengers?” Tony asked, still in his wary pose, ignoring Steve’s whole existence. “Rogers here can’t really convince anyone to save his life,” hey, what the F-, “I doubt you accepted because of his perfect teeth and American ass”.

Steve glared at the engineer, absolutely exasperated. Tony didn’t take his eyes from the sorcerer.

“Of course not,” the doctor said, sounding very serious. But then an amused smirk found its way to his face, “I’m not that superficial. He convinced me with his beautiful eyes, the doors of the soul”.

Steve eyed the doctor, dumbfounded. Ok, what was going on? The man looked like a very stern person before, but now he was playing Tony’s infuriating verbal game. And he was winning.

He realized now. Steve realized he was standing in the middle of two titans from Snarky Planet and that was when he looked at the exit door longingly.

Tony took a deep breath, apparently not expecting the irreverent response either. “It might not have sounded like a serious question, but it was,” he specified irritated.

Stephen nodded, “I understand the importance of being on the same page with the group of heroes in charge of protecting the world that I am also protecting,” he answered sincerely, and then he looked at the ceiling, pretending to be thoughtful. “ _Or_ maybe I want to infiltrate myself in your group to gather secret information and use it for world domination. You choose,” he smirked at Tony.

Tony was not amused. And he bounced, like struggling to come out with a good comeback.

“What do you do to protect the world exactly? I’ve never seen you on the media”.

“I protect the world from magical things and beings you wouldn’t even dream of. And I keep a low profile,” Stephen explained shortly, “wouldn’t want to steal Iron Man’s spotlight”.

Tony tilted his head and regarded him with narrowed eyes for a moment, like deciding if that last statement was said maliciously or not. He decided it wasn’t. “How did a man of science turn into a circus magician?”

Steve suppressed a groan. Did he always have to insult someone with every sentence that came out of his mouth? Why was he so deliberately looking for a fight? Was this his test of ‘how much you can tolerate from Tony Stark’?

“I see you did research,” the sorcerer sounded pleased, though Steve didn’t know why he should be pleased about it. It was surprising for him how the doctor was handling Tony. “Long story short. Life hit me in a way that made me see things differently- I’m sure you can understand that”.

Tony nodded, but he was clearly not satisfied with the answer. “I don’t trust you,” he said in all seriousness.

Unbothered, Stephen smiled. “I appreciate your honesty”.

Tony was indeed bothered with that response, as if frustrated but surprised for not being able to make the man snap. Steve was surprised, too, he was internally screaming a while ago, why wasn’t the doctor screaming, too? “I don’t appreciate your smirk. What’s so funny?”

“You. All riled up,” the doctor tilted his head and eyed him with interest. ”You are like a wary but at the same time very curious kitty. It’s cute.”

Steve looked back at Tony, just noticing how the man had approached during the whole conversation until being in front of the doctor just a few inches away, opposite to how he started by deciding to maintain his distance. He had drifted closer like attracted to a magnet without even noticing.

Tony filled his lungs ready to angrily _mew_ in self-defense

“I’ll have you know-“

“OK!” Steve interrupted him, gaining a glare from Stark, “that’s all for today. Doctor Strange said his time was limited, so,” he turned to the doctor, “let me show you the rest of the compound,” he gestures towards the door.

“Hope you enjoy the place, Doctor Strange,” it may have come out a little sarcastic, but at least he was calmer now. “Place that I pay for entirely, I should add”.

“It was nice meeting you, Mister Stark,” the doctor said not sarcastically and Tony’s eyes grew a little wider at that. Stephen offered his hand, Tony glanced at it for half a second and shook it gently.

“Likewise,” Stark said, looking a little troubled and confused.

With that last exchange, Steve hoped that things would get better between them.

……………………………………..

He was wrong.

“I hate him! I don’t know why we even need him!”

The crashes with those two became recurrent.

Every time the two men found themselves in the same room, or in the same battle, an argument came. And Tony was more than willing to express his discomfort.

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Steve pointed out.

“He acts like knows everything,” Tony hissed, “And he walks in here like he owns the place! I can’t stand his attitude”.

“I’m pretty sure he can’t stand yours either” said Rhodey, amused at his friend’s outburst.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Natasha opined, her lips quirking up, “given that he always goes to Tony to squish his nerves like a stress ball. It’s fun for him”.

“I thought I’d never see the day where Tony felt infuriated by someone and not the other way around,” Rhodey chuckled.

Tony glared at everyone. “I have no friends in this world”.

Steve didn’t understand.

If they hated each other so much, why couldn't they just… stay away from each other? Steve always did his best to keep them separated but he blinked and they were already next to each other in the middle of a snarky competition. Sometimes Tony won, but Strange still looked amused, so maybe Natasha was right about the doctor finding fun in annoying Tony. Other times the doctor won and he was extremely smug about it. Steve had the feeling that those two were counting.

Also, the doctor was right. Tony was like a wary but curious kitty. He was there shouting how much he disliked Stephen, but most of the time he was the one who drifted toward the sorcerer. And Stephen wasn’t innocent in this matter. He always looked at Tony defiantly or playfully, and Tony just _had_ to go and start fighting or try to annoy the hell out of the doctor, which he didn’t accomplish so far.

“Say, doc,” there he was again, Tony in his natural habitat: Annoyingland. “Are these medieval rags from another dimension?” the mechanic’s fingers held the fabric of Stephen’s robe and eyed it like something that came from the trash.

“No, a tailor from _Earth_ designs and makes them,” the doctor explained, purposely talking as if he were speaking with a child. “Why? Do you want one?”

Tony wrinkled his nose, “It doesn’t meet my standards”.

Stephen nodded. “You are right. You are too tiny, you’d disappear in this”.

“ _Excuse you_ , I have a respectable normal height. It’s not my fault you and Thor are bloody trees,” Thor glanced at them at the mention of his name, confused on why he was being compared to a plant. “Also, it looks like compensation, if you know what I mean,” he lifted his eyebrows for emphasis.

The sorcerer huffed a silent chuckle, as if the mere thought were ridiculous. “Yeah, maybe it compensates my lack of satisfaction in the search of knowledge, because I can assure you,” he looked at Tony directly in the eyes and added with a deeper voice, “I don’t lack other things”.

Tony studied his face for a moment, keeping his defiant semblance. “Is that so?”

“Stark,” Fury interrupted the conversation, thank goodness. “It’s not of my business if you are trying to find out how big the wizard’s penis is. Just let him pay attention to the meeting and do his job”.

Tony glared at Fury. He might not be the leader of the Avengers anymore, but he was there presenting a problem to the team. Still, Tony liked to behave like a brat around him. Old habits die hard.

Steve sighed. He was getting used to Tony and Stephen’s banter, and it was okay as long as they didn’t cause trouble.

……………………………………..

He wasn’t expecting Tony and Stephen’s _fire_ to escalate into a new level.

A level out of work.

“I’ll fucking sue you, Strange!”

Steve winced when he heard shouting while approaching the door of the investigation room.

“May is the only one who can sue me about this. But, oh, wait, May was the one who gave me permission! How surprising, isn’t it?”

“That’s because she doesn’t know what you did!”

The captain had no idea what they were talking about and he certainly didn’t want to know, so he turned around, ready to leave.

“P-Please, don’t fight”.

Steve stopped and frowned when he heard a very young voice in the middle of the argument.

“You might feel like his father, but you aren’t”.

“You’re not his father either!”

“I never said I was. But I’d certainly be a better father than you who wants to shield him from any dangerous situation, not letting him gain experience from his battles”.

“Well, someone has to, since you’re so eager to _throw_ him into danger in _another freaking dimension!_ ”

What the hell was going on?!

Steve decided to step into the room, finding Peter Parker close to the door.

As far as Steve knew, Peter Parker was just a teenager with good potential in science and Tony’s intern. Why were they arguing about battles and other dimensions?

The teen turned around and regarded him with wide, panicked eyes.

Tony and Stephen didn’t notice his presence yet.

“He wasn’t really in danger. How irresponsible do you think I am? I was there to protect him!”

“Uh, guys?” the kid tried to interrupt them, glancing at Steve frantically. Steve didn’t say anything because he was obviously listening to some kind of secret arrangement and he wanted to hear more.

“You can’t just use his abilities whenever you feel they are convenient to you!”

Steve stared at the teenager and openly judged his whole existence while the kid stilled like a deer in highlights. What abilities? His knowledge in science? That didn’t seem likely.

“Guys!”

Tony and Stephen finally stopped. The annoyance of their expressions disappeared when they saw Steve standing there. They were clearly afraid to have said something too revealing.

After a moment of silence, Steve decided to speak. “What? No one is going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked with a condescending tone. Then he looked at the kid, the obviously weakest one there, so he could get something out of the two adults. “What about you, son? Something to say?” Peter shook his head hysterically.

“Son? Like hell, Rogers,” Tony hissed.

“He’s not your son,” the doctor stated sternly at the same time.

“What?” Steve looked at them like they had grown another head. He called ‘son’ to anyone younger than him! He…! Ugh, no. He rubbed his forehead, he had no time for this. “What are you two shouting about?”

“We’re not shouting,” Stephen assured calmly and feigning confusion.

“Who is shouting?” Tony asked, looking around like trying to find a person shouting.

Steve wasn’t having any of this. “You were”.

“They want to adopt me!” the kid suddenly yelled.

The Captain regarded him with a critical eye, “Really?”

“Yes! But they can’t adopt me at the same time because they are not married so they keep fighting over who deserves to be my father since I’m kind of smart and can do science, so Doctor Strange took me to another dimension to fi- find scientific, interesting elements and such, b-but I guess it was a little dangerous in Mister Stark's opinion and and and yes!” Steve’s head was starting to hurt, he didn't even have the energy to say that that was an obvious lie, “Really?!” the kid asked eagerly, looking at the other two adults for support.

Tony folded his arms, “I won’t marry this asshole”.

Stephen squinted at him, “I don’t want to marry you either, douchebag”.

“I-I guess I’ll never have mom and dad together then!” he laughed out loud very falsely and gave Steve a friendly, almost imperceptible, punch in the arm to gracelessly emphasize the very unfunny joke.

He stopped laughing after a moment because no one else was laughing, and stood there awkwardly.

Stephen sighed, “Come here, kid,” the kid obeyed quickly, “I’ll get you home,” he proceeded to open a portal.

“Bye, kid,” Tony ruffled his hair. Peter snorted, seeming calm now that they were not fighting or angry at him.

“Bye, Mister Stark!” he said before crossing the portal.

“Bye, _honey,_ ” Stephen said husbandly and winked at Tony.

“Get lost, Strange!”

Steve could swear Tony’s cheeks were flushing.

Alright, it was obvious that they weren’t telling him something important about the kid. Why did Tony hide it from the team? Steve didn’t know. Maybe to protect the kid; Tony seemed very fond of him. And why did the doctor, of all people, know about it? He surely found out by himself. Plus, he seemed fond of the kid, too. Maybe they _really_ wanted to adopt him.

He just had a question to be able to sleep at night.

“Is he an alien?”

Tony startled at the question, “No!”

“That’s all I wanted to know,” Steve said and left the room.

Anyway, maybe a kid in common was going to make Stephen and Tony’s relationship better.

……………………………………..

Or not.

“Don’t be afraid,” Stephen said very amused while Peter was trying to suppress his laughter next to him, both of them watching a dozen of butterflies flying around Tony, who cringed away every time one of them flew too close to him.

“I’m not afraid!” Tony hissed.

Steve was standing at the door of the mechanic’s lab watching the whole scene without them noticing. He just wanted to ask Tony something but he seemed busy battling butterflies.

Apparently, even with the kid in the middle, they were more than ready to annoy each other.

“Cut it out with the insects! I want them out of my lab. NOW”.

“Peter wanted to see some magic,” the doctor shrugged.

“Well, you don’t have to give him everything he wants. That’s spoiling him. At this rate, he’ll throw tantrums at the supermarket when you refuse to buy a candy”.

“Hey!” Peter complained, “I’m not five years old!”

A butterfly landed on Tony’s nose and he spluttered, waving his hands to make it fly away.

Stephen and Peter chuckled. 

“They like you,” the doctor cooed.

“I don’t like them!”

“Mister Stark is like Snow White!”

“Snow White sang with birds,” the doctor waved his hands and little birds appeared. They flew around Tony’s head, whistling happily.

“You asshole! This is not funny! Get these animals out of here!”

But Stephen and Peter were very busy laughing.

“DUM-E! Stephen and Peter are on fire!”

DUM-E believed him because of the sparks of magic in Strange’s hands, and proceeded to spray them with the fire extinguisher. They screamed.

Tony laughed evilly.

Steve decided to come back later and fled.

……………………………………..

Steve’s head was hurting, still throbbing from the recent battle. He couldn’t understand how some people could be all beaten up and still have the energy to discuss weird complicated science.

“It’s important to act quickly because the blah blah blah blah,” Steve shut down the doctor’s voice about scientific things he’d ask about later but with a much simpler explanation. His ears were still buzzing, anyway. 

Tony, on his part, was more than attentive to Stephen’s talking, “I didn’t know you were an expert on blah blah blah and blah blah blah, Houdini”.

“There is a lot to read about the subject”.

Tony regarded him sassily, “Then you must have skipped the chapter about blah blah blah because blah blah blah”.

Steve squinted painfully and rubbed his temple.

“I didn’t, but you have to learn to draw your own opinion given the results of the experiments about blah blah blah”.

“He has a point,” Bruce, the other inhuman nerd, said.

“This is not about opinion, it’s about facts,” Tony was obviously trying to avoid any mistake, or that’s what Steve understood. He had always been someone who took risks lightly and nowadays he was trying to lessen that part of him for the greater good. Though he looked more than ready to follow the plan (whatever it was) if he got a little more convincing regarding the safety of it.

“Every discovery on science had required _imagination_ first. Facts are a little blurry when you don’t have all the variables on hand and you may not consider them facts because of that, but at the end they are,” said the doctor, “for that we should blah blah blah, because blah blah blah”.

“I agree,” Tony said, and Steve thought _Finally!_ , “but,” _oh no_ , “blah blah blah blah blah”.

At the end, they agreed on something. And the Avengers won the battle successfully.

But they were still bickering about it the whole time.

……………………………………..

“Bucky, I don’t know what to do. They just… hate each other”.

Visiting Bucky in Wakanda was supposed to be relaxing but he couldn’t help bringing up his problems with the only person he felt confident enough to voice them.

“I think ‘hate’ is a strong word,” Bucky opined. He seemed a little confused because he had asked about Steve’s love life and he started to talk about someone else’s ‘hate life’ instead, “They wouldn’t be able to work together if they hated each other that much”.

Steve had to admit that when they had to, they worked very well together, but…

“They can’t stop bickering, whenever they are in the same room. Even in battle! And even when they agree!”

Bucky smiled amused and knowingly, “Really?”

“Yes, even when they agree on something, the still bicker about it. It’s infuriating,” he grumbled.

The brunette chuckled, surprising Steve. What was so funny? “Damn, punk, you don’t get it, do you?”

“What?”

“I see you are still very dense with these things,” he shook his head in disappointment.

Steve frowned, “What?”

“They don’t hate each other,” his friend said pointedly. “They are _flirting_ ”.

_What?!_

“How can they be flirting?” Steve couldn’t even phantom the idea. “They can’t stand the presence of one another”.

Bucky seemed to talk with the same patience someone talked to a child. “When they meet, do they stay far away from each other or close?”

“Close, always close. But just because they are trying to annoy each other,” Steve argued, very sure of himself.

Bucky huffed and smiled, letting the subject go, because Steve was always that stubborn. “You are so innocent”.

……………………………………..

Steve had difficulty trying to even imagine those two having some kind of romantic feelings. That was simply absurd.

 _I mean, look at them!_ Steve thought while observing them. _They can’t even give a compliment to each other without an insult!_

“Your cooking is terrible,” Stephen said with a smirk, talking about the lasagna they just ate.

“Right. That’s why you ate two portions,” Tony responded sarcastically.

Stephen shrugged, “I was starving. That’s the only reason”.

Tony walked until standing very close to him with a defiant expression, “So you think you can do better?”

“Maybe”.

“Without using magic!” the engineer conditioned.

“I thought you used technology to make these”.

“It’s not the same!”

“It is”.

“It’s not!”

Well, that wasn’t really so bad. They both were smiling the whole time, like enjoying their exasperating exchange. Steve didn’t know how those two worked.

He needed to see more evidence.

……………………………………..

The team was in the Sanctum Santorum for the first time. The doctor was explaining something about a magical artifact and a magical enemy, the whole time sending glances towards Tony, who wasn’t paying attention (or maybe he was. The man was always multitasking) and instead he was looking around the place as if it were a museum.

Thank goodness the sorcerer was paying close attention to Stark, because suddenly he disappeared from where he was standing and appeared next to Tony, in time to stop him by grabbing his wrist before he could touch a weird thing that was on the table.

“I told you not to touch anything,” Stephen gritted out, his voice deeper and dark.

Tony glared at him, frustrated at being stopped. “What are you even doing with this technology here?”

“Nothing here is technology, Stark. This is a magical relic that uses illusion to transform itself into something that may be of the interest of the victim so grabby idiots like you feel the need to touch it,” he explained impatiently. “This is its real form,” he waved his hands and Tony jumped away, looking at the thing.

“Gross!”

Steve didn’t know what Tony saw first (apparently some kind of device), but for him it had the same form. It looked like a deformed sticky dead octopus.

“If you touch it you’ll get leprosy”.

“All right, I get it,” Tony lifted his hands in surrender. “Don’t touch anything. Understood”.

Stephen smiled condescendingly. “Thank you, but I don’t believe you”.

He made a movement and a golden harness strap appeared around Tony. The doctor held the other end and walked, making Tony walk with him in the process.

Steve was sure Tony had never gawked like that in his life.

“Hey!” he squeaked, his cheeks flushing, “What the-”

Rhodey was enjoying this too much, laughing his ass off, “Finally someone gave this child some correction”.

“Shut it you!” Tony glared at Rhodey and then tried to free himself, but it was useless. “Stephen!”

Well, the doctor somehow showed that he cared. Because he was doing that to protect Tony, right?

Maybe Bucky was a little right.

……………………………………..

Or maybe not.

“Give it back”.

“Or what?” Tony asked with a smirk, playing with the sorcerer’s magical ring on his fingers.

Steve blinked, standing at the door. Was Tony trying to start a fight?

The doctor, at a considerable distance (surely because Tony got away from him to keep out of his reach) squinted at the mechanic.

“You wouldn’t want to know,” he said menacingly, his voice deeper than normal, and stalked forward, approaching Tony, who looked like a cat who got the cream.

“Ooh, I feel intimidated,” Stark stepped back at every step Stephen took closer, “Is it in your doctor code to threaten people?”

“Stay still,” Stephen ordered and accelerated his pace.

“Nu-uh,” Tony said childishly while trotting away. Stephen lifted his hand when Tony was close to the wall. His magic managed to reach the engineer and it slamed and stuck him to the wall, arms above his head, “Hey!”

But of course he didn’t release the ring.

“There,” Stephen had the luxury to approach slowly and threatening until he was cornering Tony with his body, taking the ring off his hand. And he didn’t move after that.

Oh no, they were going to kill each other. Maybe it was time for an intervention.

“Hello!” Steve greeted and walked closer to the pair. They looked taken aback by his presence. “Glad to see you here, doc,” he said conversationally, “Can we do something for you?”

“Yes,” Stephen hissed venomously, “enchain this little shit and confine him from the world”.

Steve looked at Tony, who was still stuck to the wall and had his face all flushed for some reason. But the weirdest part was that he was glaring daggers at Steve.

“I am managing this, Rogers,” he gritted out, “ _bye_ ” _._

Steve ignored him and his eyes went back to the doctor. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something”.

“Get lost!” Tony hissed insistent. Steve raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yes?” Stephen prompted.

“It’s… well,” he thought of something quickly, “I had a nightmare last night and-”.

“Boring!” Tony said unnecessarily loud.

Steve just continued, “It was about some planets aligning and accumulating energy strong enough to destroy the Earth. Do you know what it might mean?”

The doctor eyed him weirdly, “It means you are watching too much fiction movies”.

Tony quickly agreed. “That’s right, bye!”

“I was-”

 _“Bye!_ ”

Why was Tony being an idiot? He was trying to save him!

“Natasha wanted to talk to you!” Steve grabbed Stephen by the arm and tugged him away, “Come with me!”

……………………………………..

“You are an idiot,” Bucky deadpanned.

“Why?” Steve didn’t understand, “They were about to kill each other”.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Were they angry?”

Steve thought about it, “Well, yes. The doctor surely looked angry. He was all threatening and imposing”.

“And Stark?”

Steve grimaced, “Tony doesn’t have a cell of self-preservation when it comes to bother people”.

“Man, what you just interrupted was a chase,” his friend explained, “ _The_ chase”.

Steve wrinkled his nose. “The chase?”

“Look, you are an old-fashioned gentleman and that’s ok, but sometimes people like to tease and _provoke_ the person they like”.

Steve huffed. For him that behavior was annoying.

“He was provoking him, creating tension to awake his primitive instinct of search of domination,” Bucky said with an amused grin.

What the-

“Didn’t you say Stark wanted you to leave?”

“Yes, to keep fighting. He acts like a child sometimes,” he huffed.

Bucky groaned. “Come on, Steve. You can’t seriously be that dense”.

Hell no. Bucky was nuts.

……………………………………..

This battle was more messy and tiring than anything. The enemies were weak but numerous, trying to prevent them from deactivating a magical thing that had base on four points in the city. There was a main strong enemy though, and Doctor Strange was fighting that one.

Everything seemed well, until they lost communication with the doctor and his destiny was suddenly uncertain. 

“Stephen?!” Tony called through the universal communicator after losing contact with the sorcerer, “What’s going on?! Stephen!” he had never heard Tony so scared, “Shit!” he shouted and Steve saw Iron Man flying away, surely going towards the doctor’s area of battle.

“Tony!” he tried to stop him because all of them had a task, but after a second he decided too that maybe Stephen needed help and followed Tony.

When he arrived, there was dust forming a thick mist in the place, making it difficult to see. He spotted Tony looking around anxiously, surely using his scanner to find Stephen’s location.

From where he was standing, Steve saw the doctor limping towards Tony, behind him. Tony turned around when he heard him. “Stephen!” he ran towards him and retracted his mask.

“Hey,” Stephen groaned. Steve could hear him through Tony’s communicator.

“You asshole!” Tony scolded, “You fucking scared me!”

“The communicator fell somewhere,” Stephen looked towards the ground, as if he maybe would find the thing there.

Then, Tony reached out, his hand cupped Stephen’s face, which made the doctor look at him surprised, “Are you okay?”

Stephen stared at him, like searching for something in his face, and whatever he was looking for, he found it, “Yeah”, he said softly, a tiny, fond smile taking place on his face, “Yes, I guess. And you?” he asked back, and his scarred hand found its way to Tony’s cheek too.

Okay _. This_ Steve was familiar with.

The bare emotions in the middle of a battle.

After that, everything made sense for Steve. The smiles, the provocations, the touches, the jokes, the silent private conversations and the shared secrets.

“I’m okay, too, thanks for asking,” they all heard Clint saying, ruining the moment.

Tony snorted, “Nobody cares about you, Legolas”. Stephen and he shared a smile and flew off to keep working.

Maybe Bucky was right, after all.

……………………………………..

“You have to be kidding me,” Bucky groaned and eyed him disbelievingly. “First you worry because the hate each other and now because they love each other?”

“I know it doesn’t sound right but I don’t want them falling apart and then not being able to work together,” he said feeling troubled.

Bucky made a carefree gesture with the hand. “You don’t have to worry about it. I think it’s beneficial for your team. I mean, they’re an awesome power couple”.

Steve nodded. He was right.

So, he decided to do the right thing.

……………………………………..

“And that,” Steve finished after saying his long inspirational discourse about love, commitment and friendship, “I just wanted you to know there is nothing wrong with you two having a relationship. Actually, I think it’s wonderful. You two make a good pairing”.

He gave them his most charming smile.

……………………………………..

Bucky was hiding his face in his hands, “Please tell me you didn’t seriously do that,” he muffled out.

“What?” Steve said defensively, “I just wanted to show them my appreciation!”

“Appreciation of what?” the brunette asked exasperatedly, “As far as you know, they are not in a relationship yet”.

“Well, is it not correct to let them know they have nothing to worry about if they want one?”

“No, it’s not, because you are not their father or anything”.

Steve winced.

Bucky sighed, “How did they react?”

_“What have you been smoking, Rogers?” Tony asked harshly. He looked furious._

_“We are not in a relationship,” Stephen said. At least he seemed calm._

_“I know, but-”_

_“Me and the wizard? Seriously, just the thought of it is ridiculous!”_

_Steve’s eyes widened and he looked at the doctor alarmed. He saw the exact moment Stephen’s heart broke._

“Damn”.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed sorrowfully. “And now the doctor has ceased to come to the compound, he just does it when it’s utterly necessary. It’s been two weeks since then”.

“Damn”.

“And he rejected movie night,” he added.

“Damn, Steve, you are an idiot”.

“How is that my fault?” he defended himself, “It was Tony and his lack of control on his tongue!”

“The poor man just panicked because you exposed his crush in front of his crush,” he shook his head with pity, “And how is Stark dealing with it?”

“Well, it’s an underestimation to say that he’s in a bad mood. Also, he seems to hate me now, always glaring at me and making comments about how people should mind their own damn business and sort”.

“He’s not wrong,” Bucky conceded.

Steve sighed. “What do I do?”

“Nothing,” his friend answered simply.

“I can’t do nothing! I can’t bear this atmosphere. Maybe I should apologize and tell them how much I-”

“No!” Bucky cut him off, “just do something to put them in the same room so they can talk properly. But don’t say anything, just… don’t”.

OK, he could work with that. But he needed help.

……………………………………..

“I need your help”.

The teenager spluttered in front of him, “M-My help? I-I don’t do hero things, I swear!”

Wow, this kid was really bad at lying. But maybe he’d put more effort in helping his dads, or whatever they were to him.

“It’s not about that. It’s about Tony and Doctor Strange,” he explained, looking around, making sure that no one recognized him under the sunglasses and his hoodie. Being in front of a school wasn’t ideal for him right now.

“Oh, what’s wrong with them?” Peter asked worried.

“Well, they had a fight, but surely that can be solved with a talk. The problem is that they’re not talking and I need to get them to talk somehow”.

He omitted the part about it being his fault because _it wasn’t._

It wasn’t, ok?!

The kid’s face brightened up, “You ship them, too?!”

“What?”

What did a ship have to do with anything? Kids were so weird nowadays. 

“I’ll do it!”

……………………………………..

The kid had convinced Strange to come to the compound and have a game night. The whole evening, Tony spent looking at Stephen eagerly, obviously wanting to talk to him, while the doctor kept avoiding his eyes.

Steve knew that they couldn’t talk with all the people there. They needed to take Stephen away.

So he told Peter to ask Stephen to help him with something in the kitchen.

Steve sighed in relief when Tony automatically followed them. Then Peter came back alone.

Steve knew he had to trust destiny, but he was too anxious to wait and he just… he wasn’t eavesdropping, ok?! He just wanted to make sure everything was fine!

“Hey, Stranger,” Tony greeted trying to sound casual.

“Stark,” Stephen greeted back shortly. Tony’s smile faded.

“Went back to last names, huh?” he tried to joke, but it came out sad, “So, I haven’t seen you here lately. Busy time?”

“Yes”.

“Are you angry for something?” Tony went to the point. Steve wasn’t sure but the engineer seemed to put all his effort on keeping himself from crying.

“No”.

“Look, don’t listen to Rogers, he’s an idiot,” he talked frantically, desperate to make things right, “I mean, it’s not like you would ever lay your eyes on someone like me. I know that,” he chuckled humorlessly and looked at the ground, “you don’t have to worry about it”.

At that, Stephen turned to look at him with wide eyes, “Someone like you? What do you mean?”

“Well, I know I’m handsome but I’m not precisely the most loveable person, so it’s-”

“You are”.

“I, uh, w-what?” Tony stuttered, taken aback.

“Loveable,” Stephen said softly.

“Oh,” Tony’s face flushed, still a little shocked, “I…” he let out a chuckle, this time his eyes crinkled, “thank you”.

Steve ate a popcorn.

Stephen took a step closer, “When you said it was ridiculous I thought you were talking about me,” he confessed with a sad expression.

“What?!” Tony’s eyes widened, “No!” he denied fervently, “I think anyone would be very lucky to be with you!” he blushed again and looked for an exit joke, “I-I mean, they wouldn’t have to worry about means of transportation anymore”.

Stephen smiled as if he had received an awesome compliment, his pale cheeks blushing too “Thank you”.

“Kid was talking about a new amusement park in Queens, he wanted to go with us,” Tony blurted out, “This weekend. You better go because that kid’s heart is fragile and you might break it”.

Steve admired the doctor’s ability to understand Tony because for him that was the worst apology ever.

“Alright,” Stephen grinned. “I’ll go”.

“Ugh, thank goodness,” Steve startled when he heard someone behind him. He spun, finding Rhodey there looking at the scene too. Then Rhodey looked at him, “And _you_ , stay away from them,” he ordered and walked away.

That was unfair. He didn’t do anything!

……………………………………..

“That’s good,” Bucky said with a nod.

“It’s not. The are still dancing around each other,” Steve complained.

“You can’t rush the process of love, punk. They are not soldiers with the weight of the lack of time on their shoulders. Also, amusement park?” Bucky said suggestively.

Steve looked at him flatly. “No”.

“Oh come on”.

“No”.

“You jump from planes!”

“That’s different”.

……………………………………..

Everything seemed to go fine. Until it didn’t.

Steve didn’t really see the problem. Was it about pride? Was it about honesty? Was it about magic itself? He didn’t know.

He just knew that when they were in battle and an unknown man attacked them, his attacks weren’t able to hit Tony.

Because Tony was surrounded by a magical shield that appeared out of nowhere to receive every blown. Thanks to that, they had been able to catch the villain, since his plan of mind-controlling Tony was apparently the main point of his whole plotting.

Really, for Steve it was a victory. Everything was ok.

But apparently it wasn’t, because Tony was _livid_.

It seemed that Stephen had casted a spell of protection in the bracelet he had gifted Tony weeks ago without telling him.

From afar, Steve saw Tony shouting at the doctor, and then taking off the bracelet and throwing it to the ground, at Stephen’s feet.

And that was it.

“Shit,” Steve said. Language be dammed.

……………………………………..

“Tony,” Natasha said, “you have to apologize to him”.

“Damn, I wish he casted that spell on me,” Sam groaned while wincing at the pain it caused him to just sit down on the chair.

“He was trying to protect you,” Rhodey added, trying to make his friend understand.

“Is it my fault?” Wanda asked at some point, “Stephen would never use his magic against you. You should know that”.

“I’m sure he didn’t tell you because he knew you’d refuse,” Rhodey insisted.

Steve said nothing.

He just… said nothing.

……………………………………..

After three weeks of Tony suffering in silence and sorrow, Steve could finally breathe.

Tony and Stephen were in Tony’s lab, talking.

“Hey, I’m sorry about, you know, the thing,” Tony said clumsily, not looking at Stephen’s eyes.

Regardless the gray atmosphere, Stephen snorted a silent chuckle, “You suck at this”.

Tony winced, “I know”.

“I’m sorry, too,” Stephen said with a soft, sad expression, “I should have told you it had magic”.

Tony shook his head, “I overreacted,” he sighed, “I just, hate when people lie to me”.

“You would have refused,” Stephen justified, but he still looked regretful.

“I know”.

“I knew that man used mind manipulation. I wanted to keep that from happening to you at all cost,” the doctor confessed, surprising Stark, “but I still should have told you, I’m sorry. I swear it won’t happen again,” he promised.

Tony’s breath hitched when he exhaled. “You protected me. I should be grateful”.

“No,” Stephen shook his head, “you had the right to be angry”.

The engineer huffed, smiling sadly, “I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t have done the same in your place,” he confessed, “I even… built you an armor without asking you”.

Stephen just smiled gently at him, “I know. I saw it, by accident,” he admitted, “I confess I felt a little angry at first but then I felt so privileged,” Tony’s eyes widened in surprise, “I remembered when you told me that you would build an armor around the world if you could, but that you had to conform with building armors for the people who meant the world to you for now. To be considered so important to you was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” he stepped closer to Tony, and his hand cupped the mechanic's face, “I want to put a magical shield around my world, too, Tony, the people I love”.

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. After that, Tony nuzzled against Stephen’s hand.

“This scares me,” he whispered.

Steve frowned. What scared him?

“In the past I used to just go for what I wanted. A lot of things didn’t end well. A lot of things were ruined. I don’t want to ruin this,” he looked up at the sorcerer with watered eyes.

“It takes two to ruin something like this, Tony. It also takes two to keep it alive, to make it grow, to build it into something unbreakable”.

That was adorable but Steve still didn’t know what the hell they were talking about.

“I’ve been told I’m a very stubborn person,” Stephen continued, “so if you truly want this, if you truly want _me_ , I will give everything of me to make it work,” he promised strongly.

Tony chuckled out of happiness, a tear sliding on his cheek, “You are just trying to bed me,” he joked.

The doctor cleaned his tears. “I want you, Tony. All of you. Everything. Not just sex”.

“I want that too. Sex included,” Tony said very sure.

Stephen chuckled, but he still saw some doubt in Tony’s eyes, “Let’s learn together. Let’s talk, let’s be patient. Let’s be our stubborn selves. If you accept me, I’m not planning on ever letting you go, Tony”.

Tony nodded eagerly, “Never let me go, then,” and they sealed it with a sweet long kiss.

Steve nodded to himself.

_My job here is done._

He turned around to leave and his bottle of water fell from his hands, making a loud sound.

Well, shit.

He turned again and found Tony and Stephen glaring deadly at him. “Uhm. Hi. I just wanted to say that I’m happy for you both and this is-”

“JARVIS, close the door”.

Steve had to jump back to avoid the door tearing out his nose.

……………………………………..

“Steve, stop pouting,” Bucky whispered at him. “It’s embarrassing”.

Steve didn’t listen, “I can’t believe they made _Rhodey_ their groomsman. I was the one who helped them be together!”

Bucky rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, Tony and Stephen were reciting their votes at the altar, “You certainly didn’t help. You are lucky they even invited you”.

“Ok, I might not have helped a lot, but I _did_ introduce them,” he said stubbornly.

“Of course, make sure their children and their grandchildren know that. You deserve it,” Bucky said sarcastically, but Steve nodded in agreement as if it was serious.

Tony and Stephen finally kissed and everyone cheered.

Steve blinked when a blue butterfly flew in front of his face. He looked at Stephen, who was looking at him. The doctor smiled and gave him a nod. Then he lifted Tony in his arms and kissed him again.

Steve snorted and chuckled, joining to the applauding.

Having a power couple in his team was awesome.


End file.
